Lux

The words sumptuous and ambitious both apply to this release by soprano Montserrat Figueras, accompanied by musicians from the orbit of early music miracle-maker Jordi Savall. Consider the hardbound, 170-page booklet, with no fewer than 44 reproductions of medieval Iberian artwork and music manuscript, many in full color. It's true that the 170 pages allow for the rendering of Figueras's notes into six languages: Catalan, English, German, French, Italian, and Spanish. Song texts, which are in various languages including Arabic, Hebrew, and Basque along with various Iberian forms of the Middle Ages, are also translated into these six languages.

Meade Lux Lewis - Cat House Piano (1998) {Verve Elite 314 557 098-2 rec 1954-1955}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 253 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 166 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 30 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1954-55, 1998 PolyGram / Verve Elite Edition | 314 557 098-2
Jazz / Jazz Blues / Boogie-Woogie / Piano Blues

This single CD from 1998 has all of the music from boogie-woogie pianist Meade Lux Lewis' two Verve LPs of 1954-1955. The earlier date is a set of duets with drummer Louie Bellson, while the later session finds Lewis accompanied by bassist Red Callender and drummer Jo Jones. The packaging is perfect, and with 76-and-a-half minutes of playing, the amount of music is generous. The only problem is that there is a definite sameness to the 14 selections (which mostly clock in between four and seven minutes), the majority of which are medium-tempo blues romps. None of the melodies (all Lewis originals) are at all memorable. The romping momentum of the music overall is difficult to resist, but it is advisable to listen to this set in small doses.

In 2005 the Classics Chronological Series, in a continuous effort to reissue the complete recordings of boogie-woogie piano ace Meade "Lux" Lewis, released a fourth volume containing material dating from between 1946 and 1954. Opening with a solo Lewis set recorded by Norman Granz for the Mercury label at a Jazz at the Philharmonic concert inside of the Embassy Auditorium in Los Angeles on April 22, 1946, this delightful album also features the work of bassist Israel Crosby and drummer Louie Bellson. These are some of Lewis' very best recordings; the tonal palette is richly varied as he pays homage to his influences and contemporaries in the pantheon of classic blues and boogie-woogie piano. They include Pete Johnson, Albert Ammons, Cow Cow Davenport, Jimmy Yancey, Clarence Pinetop Smith, Hersal Thomas, and Freddie Shayne.

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This Ligeti entry in the Deutsch Grammophon (DG) 20th Century Classics series was one of the first Ligeti CDs. It remains a fine single-disc introduction to Ligeti, one of the greatest of late 20th century composers. These works are all from Ligeti's 1960s prime when he was exploring micropolyphony. If you never heard anything else, you would have a good basic sense of what Ligeti's contribution was to the late 20th century avant-garde. Included are "Lux Aeterna," the eerie choral work from 1962, made famous for its inclusion in Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey," and the String Quartet No. 2 from 1968, performed by the LaSalle Quartet. I think the Arditti Quartet surpassed the LaSalles with their Sony recording found in the "Ligeti Edition, Vol. 1," but this version is superb in its own right. The other three pieces are performed by the Ensemble InterContemporain, led by Pierre Boulez – "Ramifications," (1968-1969) "Chamber Concerto" (1970-1971) and the very strange vocal "Aventures" (1962-1965).

A hidden masterpiece from Italy (once more). After their wonderful "Abraham", Quasar Lux Symphoniae gave to prog music another beautiful stuff, plenty of rich and emotive melodies, always delicated. Both male (raw and emotive) and female (operatic and expressive) voices fit perfectly in desperated and shattering tunes, touching the listener soul and giving a feeling of majestic sadness. Music flows slowly, always in desolated landscapes. The progressive elements are mixtured with classical musicians influences. In "The Punishment of the Submerged", the forth track, are the heavier rock moments, but the whole album shows a real sense of refinement.

More pervasive than a virus, anxiety and urgency has spread across our physical and virtual landscapes. The growing inequities of centuries old and current day complexes of oppression has reached a critical and necessary breaking point, forcing us out of our severe isolation back together in a call for justice. All the while, the continued trajectory towards climate catastrophe still creeps across the horizon into our view, another result of the valuing of profit over people.